


It's the sun in your eyes

by lunarblossoms



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26474158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarblossoms/pseuds/lunarblossoms
Summary: EmetWol Week Day 3 : KissZeph and Emet share their first kiss in the flowers of Il Mheg. Or perhaps it's not their first kiss, Zeph thinks.
Relationships: Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	It's the sun in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place sometime after Qitana Ravel/the defeat of the Rak'tika Lightwarden and before the sin eater attack in lakeland that leads up to heading to Amh Araeng. In Zeph's canon, there are several days in between when Alisaie returns and when things take a turn for the worse outside the Crystarium and during this time, Zeph is studying ruins in Norvrandt, and Emet tends to show up and chill nearby.
> 
> Title comes from The Weight of Living Pt. 1 by Bastille.

The weather in Il Mheg is pleasant, a cool breeze blowing through the grass and ruffling Zeph's hair while he makes his way up the path toward Lyhe Ghiah. He hasn't been here since his encounter with the Lightwarden, when he faced the old Titania to bring night back to the region, and thankfully, nothing so pressing brings him to the location on this day. In fact, a sense of calm lingers around Zeph and he finds that he feels the most relaxed he's felt in quite a while, the sunlight shining down from a clear sky and dancing amidst the colorful flowers. He climbs the steps, eyes following the rows of columns draped with ivy, and it leads him around the small pond at the front, full of flower petals and lotuses, humming a quiet tune to himself. 

And it helps, of course, as he nears the castle before him, that he spots his research companion already leaning against the wall by the castle's entrance with a disinterested look on his face, waiting for Zeph to arrive. Typical, Zeph thinks, smiling. His chest fills with steady warmth, spreading outward, humming in his fingertips and buzzing under his ribcage like butterflies.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be, Emet?" he asks as he grows closer, his smile growing as the Ascian pushes off the wall and moves down the steps toward Zeph. "More pressing concerns?" Emet's pursing his pretty lips, but he doesn't look displeased, his golden eyes soft and teasing as he meets Zeph's gaze.

"Perhaps," is all he says before he follows Zeph off the path, past one of the decorative towers covered in mosaic arched windows at the corner and around to the side of Lyhe Ghiah.

Zeph beams at him.

This… has apparently become routine. Zeph doesn't know how or when it started, but every time he goes out somewhere, be it Lakeland, the Fae kingdom, or the Greatwood, he always finds Emet there, either waiting for him or appearing abruptly once he's already started his daily studies and sketches. He makes for perfect company, his presence giving Zeph indescribable comfort, and then even more so when Emet asks him what he's discovered so far, or makes some teasing comment about Zeph's researching habits. It's almost… familiar somehow, Zeph thinks. Like they're puzzle pieces falling back into place, even if the rest of the puzzle still evades him, even if he has no idea why he feels like he and Emet have danced this dance before. It feels right to have Emet at his side, so he won't question it for now.

"This castle," he says, tracing his fingers over the cool, white stone. "Am I correct in recalling that the Fae folk did not build it and merely took residence in the abandoned Voeburtite structure?"

"Indeed," Emet replies. He's already sprawling out on the ground, stretching his legs out behind him while his head is propped up in his hands.

Zeph hums. His thoughts are swirling around in his mind like a storm as he retrieves his journal and flips it open to a new page. "Then this is perhaps the largest standing Voeburtite structure that has not fallen into some sort of disrepair…" His pencil flits over the page as he jots down his notes, hand barely fast enough to keep up with his ideas. "A hundred years and it still looks so beautiful… I doubt the pixies do much for its up-keeping. I wonder if it is Titania's magic that keeps it so well looked after..."

He continues to write for a few moments and then taps his pencil at his chin before he begins sketching the flowers in the grass beside him absentmindedly. Pinks and oranges and yellows like little candies along the castle's base.

Aside from the wings atop the structure, which he knows are a result of either magic or glamours from the Fae, had anything else been added or taken away since the structure's early days? And if so, is there any way to be able to tell? Were the colors of the stone brighter before, or duller when compared to the vibrance of the Fae's magical displays? Not to mention the inside of the castle, which might be more susceptible to influences from the Fae king... Perhaps he can get Ardbert to tell him later if it looks different than it did in the past, when Voeburtute royalty still resided here.

Rows of small flowers have begun to separate sections of his notes in his journal by the time he takes a break and sets it down on the ground, slowly moving back without turning away from Lyhe Ghiah. A few steps, and then a few more, standing on his tiptoes to try and get a better look at the upper sections of the castle. 

"The pixies seem to love to decorate with flowers, and with so many blooming around the base of the castle," he says curiously. "You don't suppose there might be flowers higher up, as well, do you?" He's really far too short for this, he thinks in annoyance, because he can't quite see anything above the initial walls of Lyhe Ghiah, no matter how hard he tries. His tail twitches, ears flicking up as he stretches himself to his full height to no avail.

Emet grunts. "Who knows." He sounds rather disinterested.

Just a few more steps back, then. If he just gives himself some more space, maybe he'll be able to see farther up.

And then all of sudden Zeph is falling.

Several things happen in quick succession. Zeph's heart jumps into his throat, his stomach churning at the sensation of the fall. But then as fast as he had misstepped, he feels arms around him and he's swung with no small amount of strength back up onto the cliff, rolling through the flowers with the momentum before coming to a stop with his back on the uneven ground. Each beat of his heart is pronounced in his chest, sharp and almost painful as he glances up at his rescuer with wide eyes.

Safe, just like that.

He hadn't realized he had been that close to the edge- to have walked off like that without even noticing… He swallows hard and reaches up to cling at Emet's robes subconsciously.

"You idiot," Emet barks, though there's no harshness in his tone. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Worry, perhaps… Or fear? Had Emet been that concerned for him? He blinks up at Emet, chest full of fluttering, breath caught somewhere between his mouth and his lungs.

_ I'm sorry _ , is what he wants to say.  _ For not being more attentive _ . "Thank you," is what he says instead, voice breathless and quiet. "for always saving me." This isn't the first time, or the second time, or even the third or fourth… Emet never seems to stop looking out for him. His grip on Emet's robes grows tighter, his heartbeat so strong he can feel it in his fingertips.

Emet stares at him. And Zeph stares back, realizing now that Emet is effectively pinning him to the ground, arms at Zeph's sides while he props himself up over Zeph and his knees rest on either side of Zeph's hips, warmth swimming out into Zeph's bloodstream where their bodies touch.

"Where," Emet says belatedly. There's something in his eyes, something nostalgic and soft as he gazes down at Zeph, that makes Zeph want to lose himself in it. "... would you be without me?"

He's leaning closer. Leaning down so that his chest is pressing against Zeph's, and his face is only inches away, his breath ghosting along Zeph's skin. Zeph watches, transfixed, in fascination, unable to take his eyes off Emet. The gentle flutter of Emet's eyelashes, the shape of his jaw, the bump at the bridge of his nose, the curve of his brows, and the smoothness of his lips… He's so beautiful, it's almost unreal.

"You're staring," Emet whispers, the words brushing against Zeph's own lips.

"So are you," he replies just as quietly, feeling a hint of a smile… A vague memory clings to him like cobwebs, so familiar even though he knows nothing like this has ever happened before. This moment feels like a dream… Maybe he did dream of it once, though he can't remember it now. It's as if everything is frozen in time, the world fading away so that all that remains is the two of them.

And then Emet kisses him.

Zeph can still remember the pure bliss that had filled him the first time Emet embraced him, something so overpowering that he couldn't even put it fully into words. But this… this is on a whole different level. Zeph feels like his heart is going to beat out of his chest, fireworks erupting under his ribs and heat searing, strong, nostalgic, bubbling in his blood, vibrating like a long forgotten melody inside his bones. The kiss is simultaneously passionate and yet so gentle, the way Emet holds him as if he's fragile and needs to be protected, to be close, closer, the closest they've ever been.  _ Close like they were before _ , he finds himself thinking somewhere in the back of his mind, though he's not sure what that thought means. It doesn't really matter right now- nothing else does.

Home isn't a place; it's Emet himself, his warmth, his arms around Zeph, his taste and tongue in Zeph's mouth, lips like stardust against Zeph's own. Home is Emet's breath mingling with Zeph's, the weight of his body over Zeph like the waves of the ocean, powerful and calming, grabbing hold of Zeph and slowly pulling him under the surface, so that all he feels, all he knows is Emet.

If Emet's embrace had cemented in Zeph's mind that it was Emet's touch he had been longing for all his life, it's Emet's kiss that convinces him that all he ever needs, all he ever wanted… was Emet.  _ Is Emet. _ Undeniable fact, when all the proof is right here in front of him. Right here with Emet.

When Emet eventually pulls back, the both of them are panting slightly, out of breath, and Zeph is already smiling again, his cheeks rosy as he gazes up at Emet. Emet looks… soft, under the sunlight of Il Mheg, his eyes glittering, ears tinged red, lips slightly parted and swollen.  _ Beautiful _ , he thinks once more.

Zeph lets out a breathless laugh, feeling lightheaded, giddy… At the edge of a memory he can almost grasp in the palm of his hand. So near… He knows this, he knows he does. A kiss like this one, surrounded by flowers, pinks and oranges and yellows dancing around them, the colors of spring bringing them closer. Perhaps a dream, or something from the distant past: it lingers at the back of his mind unbidden.

"...I want more of that," he eventually murmurs, warmth and unbridled affection bleeding into his words. He belatedly realizes his hands are still clinging tightly to Emet's robes when Emet uses that to his advantage to pull Zeph up with him, so that the two of them are now seated on the flower beds with Zeph in Emet's lap.

Emet seems… flustered. He takes a deep breath, the red spreading and painting his cheeks with color, and he swallows before he finally manages to speak. "Perhaps another time," he mumbles, and he might mean it to sound irrefutable but the way he keeps glancing at Zeph's lips again, the fact that it takes him several more moments to actually manage to get himself and Zeph back on their feet… Zeph thinks that Emet felt it, too. That same sense of home.

Now that they're up, Emet leads him back toward the front of Lyhe Ghiah, and Zeph fetches his journal from the grass, slipping it back into his bag. "No more cliff sides, hm?" Emet eyes him, a twinkle of gold and a twitch of his pretty lips.

And Zeph certainly can't argue with that. "Will do," he says.


End file.
